PRESIDENTIAL EXECUTIVE ORDERS NOW REQUIRED


Federation of States, October 10, 2001 - Although, most constitutionally minded people, not limited to Confederates, are at least highly suspicious if not downright in opposition to Executive Orders, things are constitutionally and legally different during war which is a time of national emergency.

In spite of unity by the legislature since the September 11, 2001 attack upon the United States, Congress has failed to perform adequately in connection with the airlines of America and are, in fact, derelict in their duty on this matter of protecting the public during time of war. It has been nearly 30 days since the attack upon America and our airlines are at greater risk now than ever and the security is only slightly improved. The electronic screening of passengers and their carry on luggage is being more rigorously applied, but this should have been the case all along. But still only about 10% of the checked baggage is being x-rayed and most airline cockpit doors are not beefed up and locked. The FAA is still resisting allowing pilots to be armed, a measure strongly supported by the pilot’s union and the American public. In fact most of the improvements that have been put in place are either virtually ineffective or simply there for cosmetic effects to falsely restore public confidence in flying in the face of the strong terrorist threats against the airlines.

The National Guard walking and standing around with M-16 rifles looks good to the average traveler. It gives the appearance of security. But, what do these guardsmen actually do to enhance security in flying?? Do they assist in supervising the maintenance of the planes or in the loading of the baggage or in the loading of the food service? NO! They are just present for the appearance sake. The only thing that their present might enhance is security against a group of terrorists making an overt assault on an airport.

Our airlines are at greater risk now than before the September 11th attack and both Congress and the Executive Branch are at fault. It will likely takes weeks or months for the new National Homeland Security Agency to have much real impact upon airline safety through pressure upon the multitude of agencies they will be trying to coordinate.

Either Congress and the Executive Branch must act immediately, or Americans must insist that their local Sheriff Departments take over the security of the Airports in their counties to replace the Federal ineptness, whether or not the flights will cross state lines. The Governors of the various States have the authority to take back control of their National Guard units, placing them at the disposal of the local sheriff departments involved in order to supply the necessary manpower to accomplish the task.

Hear us Washington! We are mad and not fooled. We have no choice but to take matters into our own personal hands aboard flights. If someone or group attempts to take over the aircraft and or gain access to the cockpit, we, the individual passengers, must act to save our own lives in self defense and no Federal edict against this can prevent our action. Either you, in Washington act quickly, or anarchy will be the rule of the skies in our flights. Our only other alternative as potential victims of air terrorism is to call for a national strike against flying aboard commercial airlines. That will bring the airline industry to a halt and plunge our economy into depression, but it will also prevent commercial air terrorism and save the lives of the innocent citizenry.

History has shown that Congress is not normally able to respond to such domestic civil defense measures with sufficient unity to speedily pass effective legislation to provide for this defense of the lives of the American public. Indeed, now for several weeks Congress has not passed effective legislation to provide real security for passengers of the commercial airline industry.

Therefore, the Federation of States and its associated state Southern Independence Party organizations now calls upon President Bush to expeditiously issue the required Executive Orders to insure real airline security. An example of such an order is now rendered below:

PROPOSED EXECUTIVE ORDER CONTENTS

1.    All commercial passenger AIRCRAFT operating in the territory of the United States are hereby grounded until the following steps are taken:

A.  The cockpit door must be beefed up to prevent breaking down from the cabin to gain access to the cockpit and the keys for the lock thereto must not be in the hands of the airborne flight crew. The lock should be latched from the inside of the cockpit.

B.  The cockpit door must be bullet proofed as well as the inside of the cockpit against bullets fired from the front rest room or from the beverage service area through the wall into the cockpit.

C.  Cockpit video screens must be installed with cameras which allow the pilots to view the activity in the cabin.

D.  A peep hole must be installed as an additional method of pilot surveillance of the cabin area.

E.  The Transponder on the aircraft must be secured to prevent turning off from the cockpit including fuse access.

Once these steps have been taken an individual aircraft shall be certified and lifted from the grounded list of aircraft.

2.  The following commercial passenger AIRCREW requirements must be met prior to allowing any certified commercial passenger aircraft clearance to depart from their designated gate.

A.  Pilots and aircrew, including any Air Marshals must be checked for proper credentials including photo IDs by Federal Agents prior to boarding the aircraft.

B.  Likewise, all airline personnel working the gate boarding areas must be checked for proper credentials including photo IDs by Federal Agents.

C.  Furthermore, all ground and servicing crew must be checked for proper credentials including photo IDs by Federal Agents prior to being allowed access to the servicing area of each aircraft.

D.  The pilots must be in their flight seats with the cockpit door locked and may be armed after proper Federal certification.

E.  An armed Air Marshall must be aboard in uniform and must have presented his credentials to the captain of the flight. This shall not preclude other under cover Air Marshals from being aboard larger flights, but he/or they must also have presented their credentials to the captain of the flight.

F.  The aircraft transponder must be on and identified by the FAA prior to clearance to leave the gate.

3.  The following commercial passenger AIRLINE requirements must be met prior to allowing any certified commercial passenger aircraft under their usage or command clearance to depart from any gate.

A.  No carry on baggage or packages shall be left in the cabin or restrooms from a previous flight, unless the owner of such carry on baggage or package is aboard on a continuing flight. This will require individual checks to verify that the owners of any such carry on baggage or package are in fact still aboard.

B.  All checked baggage (100%) shall be x-rayed and checked for bombs by the airline involved. National Guard units may be trained and deployed to assist the airlines in this task.

C.  All tickets for passengers must contain the number ID of any baggage checked and this must be computerized.

D.  Boarding passes must contain the name of the passenger as shown on their ticket and as verified at the gate by a photo ID.

E.  Once boarding has occurred, should any ticketed passenger who has checked baggage not be on board, the flight must be delayed while such baggage is removed or the involved passenger is boarded. No baggage may be transported by any airline carrying passengers without the corresponding passenger associated with such baggage being aboard.

4.  The following commercial AIRPORT requirements must be met prior to allowing any flights to depart from commercial airports within the jurisdiction of the United States.

A.  Federal Immigration Officers shall stop each person attempting to enter the electronic surveillance area and require presentation of their ticket and a photo ID which must match the name on the ticket. Next, Immigration Officers shall inquire into the nationality of the person, requesting the necessary proof such as Social Security Cards, Voters Registration Cards, Passports, Visas, Work Permits and other identification normally required at points of entry into the United States, even for flights originating and terminating within the United States. NIC Checks could be run on the spot and the nationality should be computer entered in conjunction with the ticket into an airport data base.

B.  Rigorous electronic surveillance of passengers and carry on baggage entering the airport concourse area according to existing regulations must be enforced and supervised by Federal Agents.

C.  Other existing regulations concerning carry on luggage must be observed.

D.  Airport parking must be arranged to keep passenger vehicles from parking too close to the terminal area.

E.  Security surveillance must be established for parking areas.

F.  National Guard units may be trained to repeal any terrorist group attempting to assault the air terminal including the tower, aircraft and fuel areas.

G.  Samples of fuel being unloaded from fuel trucks onto aircraft must be taken and checked for any contaminants that might be dangerous and security of such fuel depots and trucks must be maintained by armed personnel, either federal, state or county law enforcement officers or National Guardsmen.

5.  The following PASSENGER requirements shall be enforced.

A.  Ticketed Passengers desiring to check baggage must check their baggage at least three hours prior to the scheduled departure of their flight.

B.  Ticketed Passengers must not have on their person nor in their carry on luggage any knives, corkscrews, scissors, single edge razor blades, fingernail clippers or files or any other sharp or pointed object, nor any firearm or ammunition whatsoever, nor any cigarette lighter or flammable fluid. Any such items may only be packed in checked baggage and in the case of firearms or ammunition, such must be declared and separately disarmed, disassembled, tagged and checked with the airline being used.

C.  Air Marshals and/or other authorized Federal Agents and Federally Certified Pilots are excepted from this firearm exclusion and may be allowed to board armed.

D.  Ticketed Passengers must present themselves to the gate boarding pass booth at lease one hour, but no more than two hours prior to the scheduled flight departure time.

E.  All ticketed passengers must present to U. S. Immigration Officers a photo ID of themselves and also identification which shows which country they are citizens of such as voters’ registration certificates, social security cards, passports, visas, work permits and other identification normally required at points of entry into the United States prior to being allowed to enter the electronic surveillance area and the boarding concourse areas.

F.  All ticketed passengers must maintain personal control and supervision of their own carry on luggage in the concourse area.

G.  No one will be allowed to leave luggage or packages untended in the airport terminal. Such luggage will be confiscated and the owner thereof will be subject to a fine or arrest.

H.  Any jokes or threats in connection with terrorist activities will be taken seriously by security personnel and will subject the offending person to arrest.

6.  A Federal Tax shall be added to all commercial passenger flight tickets. This Tax shall be paid directly to the Airport Terminal involved in the embarkation of passengers and to the commercial passenger airline involved to defray most of the expenses of these stringent security measures.

Such an Executive Order should be limited during this national emergency and/or until Congress passes adequate legislation covering the same areas, after which the President could sign such bills and issue an order terminating the executive order.

Federation of States Staff